FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I poke my head out of Boris, and I'm on a ship from a parallel universe.

Anu's pitch black. The only visible light is coming from the hibernation pods, all of it the same shade of amber-green. It diffuses off the chrysalis lids and makes them glow like mushroom caps; it shines like lasers from those standing outside, bouncing off of the hull and floor as my unseen fellows turn and stretch. Eerie.

It's quiet. I can hear nothing but the sounds of breath and whispers, echoed off the walls of the gigantic hall. Even the hum of the machinery seems softened. The AI are mute.

None of the people next to me are awake yet. I stand alone in the darkness and silence.

I take a step out from Boris, and become aware of a lingering weight connecting us. I turn to look for a stray wire...

Oh, right. I've got a tail now. At its tip is one final light that pulses a couple times, coating Boris's insides with a gilded verdigris.

It's cold. Even with all of us colonists packed together in this one area, our combined body heat cannot expel the chill.

I spend a few minutes standing there: listening, waiting, watching. The cold begins to feel good against my fur, like a wintry breeze on a summer's day. The hall starts to fill with voices.

Impatiently, I look down at the chrysalis opposite my own, separated by an unlit walkway. All the hatches are open. Let's take a gander at this one...

She's still in a fetal position, her tail wrapped around herself. Her fur is as blue-violet as my own, but she does not shine. In sleep, her light is snuffed.

Still, she's beautiful.

My own light reaches out to her, tracing her contours, illuminating her features. The lashes of her eyes flutter, her lips parted ever so slightly. She inhales. Her breasts raise against folded arms. They're not very big, but they're perky and warm-looking, and I have a sudden urge to touch them. I don't, of course-- but I am a bit surprised. I haven't had a sexual thought about a woman since I was 16. Boris did a good job.

Am I still attracted to men? I begin thinking about my ex, about the first time we made love...

A scream pierces the hull.

I look in all directions, the echo distorting my perceptions. To my right, I see a pattern of light, frantic on the ceiling. There. I run.

In my sprint I pass a few others. They all look bewildered, and some of them are engaged in confused conversation. Two of them are blocking my path as they fondle each other-- not in a sexual manner, but they're still an obstacle. Without even being entirely conscious of my decision, I jump them like a pair of hurdles.

Huh. That was cool. I'm closing on the screams.

I round a corner, and I see him on his knees. He's tearing at his own flesh, fur and blood and skin sloughing off of him in chunks. His screaming sounds garbled now, viscous. Did he bite his tongue off, or is he working his spit into a frenzied foam?

Body dissociation. They warned us this could happen.

A woman is trying to console him, soothing him with words, but fearful to get too close. He claws at her when she does, keeping her at bay.

"Oh, god!" she cries. "Help him!"

I say nothing and leap towards him, tackling him to the ground. He fights me with a madman's strength. It is as we tussle that I notice his half-dismembered tail, only held together by bone and sinew at its base. The blood that leaks from his AI and pools about us tells the story: He slammed the lid of his chrysalis down on his own tail, over and over again, desperate to remove it. He bites and rails and scratches at me, until anger overwhelms my selfless concern and I punch him hard in the face. I pull my fist away, and blood covers it, too. His light calms and fades, while my own perfectly illuminates the horror that envelops me.

He passes out, but not from anything I did. His face was bloody before I ever got here. His entire body is more shreds than whole. How could he have kept from screaming through most of this?

"Medic! Someone get over here! Now!"

The woman next to us was recoiled in fear, but as soon as he's out, she moves in to assist me. A small gathering of colonists surrounds us, children at a schoolyard brawl. All of them are blue, shining beams at us that converge into a spotlight on the carnage. His blood drips off of me, seeps into my skin, sticks between my fingers. Chunks of his own fur cling to mine. The green glow lends a sick patina to his face, frozen in unconscious terror. I can't bring myself to look at him anymore.

"Does anyone have anything to wrap these wounds in?" I cry. Everyone gathered shakes their head negatively. I look at her and state matter-of-factly, "Then we'll have to hold the wounds shut ourselves." I wrap my hands around the base of his tail. Sheared muscle squelches under my compress. I can feel his vertebrae, and hold back the urge to vomit. She winces and tries to hold his face together.

"Outta the way, goddammit!" The crowd parts, and in rushes another man, naked as we all are. He slides down to our level, canister of foam skin in hand.

"Finally," I complain. "This guy was going crazy!"

He says nothing to me and gently nudges the woman away. "Yeah, well, he's not the only one." And only then do I notice the sound of other screams echoing in the black. Splotches from who knows how many others are evident on his body.

"You can step back, miss. You, hold your hands there until I can get to his tail."

The skintone liquid sprays from his canister, aimed into the slashes on his face. As soon as it touches his skin it expands and foams, filling in the cracks of his twisted visage. "Shit, he's lost a lot of blood...." Of course, it was skintone before our little transformation. The generic color of the peach-tan foam contrasts brightly against the gore and midnight fur. He continues to spray into his arms and torso, patching together the tattered man.

"Do you think he'll make it?" asks the woman who helped us.

"I don't know. Probably. But I think it's safe to say he's going to be more of a liability than an asset. Now then," he directs to me, "you let go with your left hand on three, then your right when I say so. Got it?" I nod.

"Okay. One, two... three!" I pull my left hand away, and a terrible sucking noise comes from his body as blood and tissue lose their adherence to me. Gore streaks from my hand in an arc that shines awfully in the green light. Foam fills in the gaping hole as best it can, but some of it leaks out.

"Shit!" The medic pulls out a cauterizer, closing the open veins before applying more foam. "I think his tail's a lost cause, but he'll live... Okay, other hand." I let go completely, and sickened at the sight of my palms, furiously wipe them off on the cold floor, stewing in a pool of this crazed fool's blood. I stand and brush the stray bits of flesh from my coat.

The woman rises as well. "Any of the others need any help?"

He eyes us suspiciously. "Either of you have any medical training?" Neither of us respond. "Then don't worry about it," he adds dismissively. "We've got enough doctors to take care of everyone, and... well, the two I helped on the way here weren't half this bad. Fucking idiot...."

"Yeah, um, was this thing built with any showers?"

The medic chuckles. "I don't think so. You two probably saved this man's life, and you're gonna wear his effluvia like a mark of honor until we're outside. Or you pick yourselves clean."

"Oh, great. First day out and my fur's ruined in fifteen minutes."

The woman with us smiles and places her hand on my shoulder. "We did good, I think. Any idea where we can get sterilized, at least?" I smile back.

"Sure," he replies, still frantically putting our companion back together. "Medical bay is that way, two doors down on the left." He points us to our destination without looking up.

"Thanks," she says and takes my hand. "Let's go. I'm Marna." The crowd parts for us as we head off. They were useless, but at least they didn't get in the way.

"I'm Jaffrey. Nice to meet you, Marna... again, that is. We talked briefly before. You're a geologist, right?"

"That's right-- I'm sorry. I met so many new people that night. Who are you?"

"Jaffrey Simens, marine biologist. You can call me Jay if you want."

"Oh, yes... I didn't recognize you, Mr. Simens. As I recall, you were quite excited about your metamorphosis."

"You mean changing into an acquatic human hybridized with deep-sea creatures' DNA? Hell yeah, I was excited! And look at what a good job Boris did... underneath all this blood, of course...."

"Boris? Is that your dedicated AI?"

"Yep. He's fun."

"Mine's named Daria. I wonder, did everyone get their AI assigned with the same gender as themselves?"

"Beats me. Where do you suppose we are now, anyway?"

"Well, we're awake, so we've made planet fall... The shutters are still closed, so we haven't reached a stable location yet... We're either diving through open water, or carving our way through the ice."

"That would explain why the AI's so silent. I remember reading that all non-vital power would be fed into Anu's hull to heat it, making the ice easier to penetrate."

"So we're somewhere in the frozen crust. We could have used the AI's help a few minutes ago... but I guess it's better than risking running out of energy and the ship freezing mid-transition to the ocean, right?"

I laugh nervously. " ... Right."

She stops mid-stride.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not really... It just occurred to me we're completely naked."

"We all are. Just think of your fur as clothes for now and you'll be fine."

"Yes, but... I can see your, er--"

"And your breasts are out there for the whole world to enjoy. Who cares?"

She looks mildly offended as she crosses her arms over her chest. Then, realizing they've been out there this whole time, resigns herself to the openness. She drops back into a leisurely stroll, hands dangling at her sides, a few paces back from me.

She's quiet for a few seconds, but then I can hear humor in her voice.

"You know, it's kind of hard to tell with these tails in the way, but I think you've got a cute butt...."